The Tribune endorses John Kerry for president of the United States.
He has earned the job – and the chance to return security, prosperity, freedom, consensus and the American identity to a nation at odds with the world and itself.
The United States has lost its way under President Bush, who too often has failed on both foreign and domestic fronts. Worse, he has been unable to unite a deeply divided nation.
Bush, whom The Tribune endorsed in 2000, has offered simplistic slogans to complex problems, while Kerry sees complicated problems and offers the promise of appropriate solutions – complex or not.
The reality is the world is not a simple place, seldom black or white, and Kerry knows that intuitively. He understands the gray, the nuance – and that easy-bake solutions like nuclear weapons, Navy carriers and conservative or liberal platitudes usually don’t apply or work.
This is critical in addressing big picture issues from Iraq to the economy. Kerry’s style, attention to detail and global view will serve this nation better in the long run.
The Tribune believes Kerry offers the best leadership for the vast majority of New Mexicans and other Americans, who identify with his vision of who we are, where we need to go and how best to get there.
Why not Bush?
From the war in Iraq and the acidic sections of the Patriot Act to global warming and national energy policy, Bush’s foreign and domestic policies have been based on secrecy, fear, distortion and misinformation.
For these reasons, we urge independent and undecided voters in particular to double-check what Bush says against what he has done…. [keep reading]